****** problem help

29FordGuy

29FordGuy

Member
Just finished my 29 Town Sedan and trying to work out the kinks. I have a slight problem with the transmission and thought there might be some ****** experts out there that can help.

I can not shift into 2nd or 3rd gear when moving. I can shift through the gears when stationary, running or not, but when I am moving, it will not shift into gear. I have checked Les Andrews troubleshooting book and he gives several possible causes which I have not been able to check on yet. Just thought I would throw this out right now and see if anyone has any suggestions. I have a car show to go to Saturday so will dig into it in greater detail next week. I hope this will not result in removing the ******!

To answer a few questions that may come up. I installed a new throwout bearing and spring. Clutch was not replaced but appeared to be in good shape (mechanic's opinion). Clutch peddle travel is adjusted properly. ****** was rebuilt with new bearings, cluster gears, both sliders, and main shaft. Proper amount of 600W oil was added. Shift tower was not rebuilt.
 
Are you getting gear grinding, or just no movement? Are you an experienced "A" owner/driver? Are you double clutching?
 
Do you try to shift after revving up in first or shifting at about 5MPH and to third at a comparatively low speed? have you driven a model A before?
 
I am NOT an experienced Model A driver and have never driven a vehicle that required double clutching so it is all pretty new to me. Oh, I once drove a school bus that required double clutch, but only briefly. When I try to shift it is at low speed (~ 5 -7 mph). I depress clutch, move the lever to 2nd and it just stops dead, short of moving into gear or grinding. I can go back to 1st with no problem except for a little gind. I live in a hilly area so it is difficult finding a leval road to practice on without going to Hwy 101. I think I have tried everything I can think of such as reving the engine, pausing, double clutching, etc. I even readjusted the clutch peddle free play thinking that the clutch was not releasing. What seems strange is that I can dry shift fine, but it seems to happen only when I am moving. Thanks for your help!
 
very interesting, I was going to say check for 1 inch of free play! I installed a new engine and couldn't get into gear with the car running. turned out that I didn't have the clutch set up.
 
Will it shift into 2nd or third when stopped and the car is running? If it does, while stopped shift into 2nd gear and with the car running start out from the stopped position and see if the car will go. If it moves your problem is probably the clutch, either adjustment or ?
 
That is exactly what I was going to try the other night but I could not get the car started. I had an electrical problem (probably lose high tension wire from coil), which I fixed last night but forgot to run my test after I got it fixed (it was late). I will do it tonight.

I am wondering if I am misunderstanding the 1" free plan on the clutch peddle. I have about 1" or less of "free" movement of the peddle before I feel the resistance to peddle movement. Is this right? I may try to tighten it up some more tonight. The clutch adjustment was my first thought also and is still high on my list.
 
With the engine running and the car standing still can you press the clutch pedal down and shift to all the gears, R,1,2, and 3? IF so, I can't see why it wouldn't also shift into gear while moving as long as you do the correct double clutch, or let some seconds pass while shifting up, to give the gears time to slow down.
 
Maybe pull the inspection cover and make an observation of whats happening. If the main shaft (Input) is spinning you'll have a h-ll of a time getting it in gear. clutch in and once out of first to neutral then check the shaft to seee if its slowing down then clutch in and try for second.
 
So, when you are moving in first and go into 2nd and let clutch out , it "stops dead".

Do you mean the clutch is acting like a brake?

Could only be jammimg gears?

2 gears at once?
 
To clarify - when I say stop dead it means that the shifter stops and does not go into gear. The car is freewheeling down the road in neutral. I will test the other suggestions tonight and will update this thread.
 
i would pull the top & see whats up b 4 you hurt something ............ steve
 
So, this monster will shift with the engine not running and the car not moving?? If the engine is running, will it shift from neutral into 2nd?? If so, can you take off in 2nd and shift into 3rd?? You stated you didn't work on the tower..I'm wondering if you have a square shifter ball and worn rails or forks?? When this happens the shifter will hang-up and it takes careful slow work to get it to shift. Also, the clutch free-play should be 1- 1 1/2".. It may be a good idea to take a good look at the clutch shaft lever, they have been known to crack..
 
Here is an update ...
I am able to shift through R, 1, 2 and 3 gears when stationary and engine running. There was a little resistance going into 2 and 3, but I noticed that if I really depress the clutch all the way through to the floor (and push into the carpet), it drops in to 2 and 3. Therefore I suspect I need to adjust the clutch some more. I will do that tonight.

Car show Saturday in Crescent City is off for me now anyway - 90% chance of rain all weekend! Darn, that was to be my first car show and possibly last. It just does not interest me much!
 
Were the pressure plate fingers adjusted with the pressure plate assembled on the flywheel? Is the clutch installed correctly? Did you rebuild the shift tower of the transmission? I have heard od reproduction shift levers failing. Bob
 
Here is an update. Today I removed the shift tower and observed the gears with the engine running. There was no movement until I begin to let out the clutch. The clutch was assembled by the machine shop - hope they got it right. The mechanic that worked on it used to work on them years ago and he had all the instructions in Andrews' book. I am hoping that there is no problem with that end.

I disassembled the shift tower (except for the spring) and it looks like there is significant wear. The ball at the end of the shift tower measured slightly less than 1/2" (0.484"), but the shift forks had worn groves where the ball rides. This would effectively reduce the diameter of the ball and could cause the shifting problem.

NOW, my question for the experts is.... since the notch in the shift forks is worn, can I have a good welder add some thickness to the inside of the groove and grind it down to size? Apparently nobody makes the forks so we have to be able to repair them. I have a mig but would probably get a better welder to do it. Also, I need to try and make a tool for compressing the spring. Have seen two types.

Thanks for everybody's help on this. It is great to be able to have this resource especially when I don't have any locally.

Robert
 
I've welded forks and ball up with just a torch. Used a file and grinder to work them back to size. Worked for me.
 
Rbuilding the tower is not that difficult. Our club had a seminar a few years ago and we rebuilt about 15 of them. You can read about it at www.ocmafc.org. Click on "tech articles", click on Tom Endy's technical articles". Scroll down to "A Unique Seminar".

You need an experienced welder, a spring tool, and a mill made the job easier.

Tom Endy
 
Thanks for the information Tom. I managed to remove the spring and disassemble the shift tower last night. I made a tool, but I think I need to revise it a bit to work on assimbly. I am replacing the shift rod and will take the forks to a machine shop for repair. I think I can get the correct dimensions of the forks where they are not worn, but was just wondering if you still have the correct dimensions from your seminar?
 
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